The Poor Man’s Prepping

[Winner4104]

i did not know why many people out there want for a new television or DVD use them money on what is not giving them profit. I believe with this shout messages people should know the write thin to do.

[zombiepreparation]

I did not really understand the post above me.

[zombiepreparation]

I have a fairly good store of whole wheat pasta and a getting stronger store of canned spaghetti sauce. But I was thinking about a Bug In and started the train of thought about just how much spaghetti will I 'enjoy' and the amount of water used for pasta anyway as well as the 20 mins it takes to cook w.w.pasta vs 10 mins for regular pasta.

[zombiepreparation]

The following excerpt is from the thread Resiliency and You on the Contingency Planning & Preparation board. Here is part of prepping we the poor can do without spending $$, and after reading the OP in that thread I see my need to prep in this area too. I knew this on a vague level of course, but reading it brought it to the forefront of my thinking. It applies perfectly to The Poor Man's Prepping because it is important and doesn't cost a thing. There's more and in better detail on the thread; this is an excerpt.

Both these viewpoints [preppers and/or survivalists] stress stockpiling and the BOB or INCH. And for many situations evacuation is likely (flooding, tornado damage) so these aren’t bad suggestions. However what preppers AND survivalists should be doing is striving for resiliency which is, I believe more holistic than simply prepping.

1: Avoidance and deflection
One can avoid a dangerous area by applying knowledge. Or as we like to call it Bugging Out!
If you know a riot is going on it is better to avoid that area. Interested in this aspect? You need to look carefully at threats you can avoid - through moving or evacuating. You also need a realistic time scale - getting stuck in traffic is not a successful avoidance.

2: Protection and isolation
An isolated person or object has a degree of safety that a non isolated does not. Protection of your house is a good one, defensive landscaping, use of firearms for effective defense etc. How do you protect yourself, how do you protect your supplies?

3. Toughness
How strong is your gear? How strong is your immune system? What can you do to increase toughness. Do not forget mental toughness! Are you mentally tough enough to shrug off setbacks and overcome challenges? The tougher a system, object or person the more resilience it has.

4. Redundancy
Backups and replacements. We all know 1 is none, 2 is 1. How do you use redundancy as part of your preps? Are you redundant down to a skill level? How can you increase your redundancy when prepping - caches etc? Do you have two streams of income?

5. Regeneration
Are you able to fix and repair damage? Can you rebuild your income loss? The ability to regenerate what you have lost is VITALLY important for resilience. Self sufficient practices suddenly are a lot more important if you think about being resilient. Food production is a really important area to consider.

6. Flexibility
Specialisation is for insects! That being said there is always going to be a trade off. Humans are omnivores - being an omnivore is a prudent choice for someone interested in resilience. Narrow diets can be a hindrance (though of course this is a very personal choice I’m not judging as someone trying to eat paleo!). Other examples of this would be picking gear to fill multiple roles.

7. Adaptation
A system or a person that can adapt successfully to a massive change to its environment is going to survive. Changing of routines in a disaster, ability to adjust to a new more stressed way of living. We as humans are VERY good at adaptation - but not everyone is equipped for this.

Whew - still with me?

Great so now look at yourself - this is just an example.

I and 'focusing' on #3 and #7 (while also keeping in mind how I can apply to others too). I have begun, slowly and consciously, focusing on increasing my mental and physical 'toughness' and resiliency to make myself better prepared. I can see where "I" might get most of the supplies I need, gear/food/water/and such, but where "I" will be extremely deficient is in the mental and physical 'toughness' and resiliency. This is not going to cost me anything either so it's perfect for me being a Poor Man's Prepper.

[Manovv]

some nice info in this thread for us 99%

[zombiepreparation]

I don't know how anybody feels about this guy of course, I don't even know how "I" feel about him, but I stumbled onto this video and it had a couple of tips I, as a financially challenged prepper, never mind being reminded of multiple times. Plus I had just been wondering the last few days about all the water I'm seeing needed to clean up after eating, therefore, in a crisis when I'm bugging in and water is at a premium. Not to mention how to open a can when my P-38 is hiding from me as it's been known to do when I'm camping. AND, my friend who grew up on a Pacific island said they ate the smaller version of what he refers to here all the time and I've been wondering if I could do this in a pinch. So I'm passing it on to The Poor Man's Prepping thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmmpg-XCU-k&feature=g-vrec&context=G2561c24RVAAAAAAAAAw

[zombiepreparation]

This post is about what I already 'have' to use as BO cookware.

Searching YouTube again I saw one video that said plastic water bottles are great; light, multi use if needed. But added that if I have a steel water bottle and I have 'iffy' water only and no filter the steel water bottle can be used to boil the water it is holding.

Well, I did have a steel water bottle and put it to the test. I set a burner on my kitchen stove to number 4. Took off the plastic cap and used a small piece of foil for the lid. It worked. The water boiled. I boiled it for 10 minutes. Kool.

I saw another video that said a steel empty small meat can (chicken, tuna, etc.) can be used as a bowl as well as setting the full container on the edge of the coals to keep the food warm.

I had three cans of tuna, put the tuna in another container for the test (if I were in a crisis situation I would have eaten it right then of course).

I also have this large heavy steel camp cup with a large non-folding handle I've had for years that I keep but keep wishing for something different. Oh well, poor man and all of that. I saw lots of videos of campers making --well it always seems to be ramen or hot chocolate on the videos-- in these snazzy little pots and cups. So I began wondering if I could cook in mine too.

I turned another burner on the lowest setting, warm. I poured some of the boiling water from the water bottle into the cleaned tuna can then added instant rice to rehydrate and set it on part of the burner.

Then I put a little olive oil in the cup, added two eggs to see if they would cook well and the cup would hold up. It worked. The eggs turned out fine and the cup seem unmarred in any way. I put the eggs in another tuna can to keep warm but I was running out of burner room. I wondered about stacking the tuna cans. I had a large can of yams, opened it from the side with my P-38, relocated the yams, opened the other end of the can on the side, washed them and I had two lids. So I put some tuna in and a lid on the first can of rice that was warming, placed the second can with eggs on top of the rice, and put the other lid on it.

Then I wondered what else I could fix since I had another tuna can and it was getting close to meal time anyway, so I opened a can of pinto beans and a can of tomatoes with jalapenos, put some in the cup I was using for cooking, poured the hot beans & tomatoes into the tuna can and stacked it on top the other two.

I've been on a quest to figure out how to minimize the use of water for cleaning cookware in a water crisis situation and thought I'd try out this method: I poured some hot water from the water bottle into the cup I'd been cooking in, used my spoon to loosen the eggs, beans, and tomatoes. I figured I was going to eat beans, eggs, and tomatoes anyway so why not just drink this. In a crisis situation I would want to eat every single thing I could anyway so I drank the little bit of water with the food scrapings. It was fine. I repeated this process a couple more times until I got everything I could this way.

Then I made tea in the cook cup. I poured more hot water from the water bottle, added a tea bag, let it steep, arranged my three containers of food and actually had a fine warm tasty filling meal! And this thing with that long handle on the cup I've had such negative thoughts about? Get this; that same handle never got hot. No matter how long it was on the stove or how hot the cup got. (note: the three small meat cans of cooked food had me satisfied and close to feeling stuffed. It was a 'comfort' feeling, full/satisfied. If someone who were larger than I am were choosing a can/bowl I think I would recommend the next larger size meat can to use for a bowl)

Then I poured little bits of hot water into the emptied tuna can bowls, scraping out every tiny bit I could see and drinking it, until the water and each can/bowl 'appeared' clean. After that I took a bit of dish soap and cleaned all three cans, two lids, the cup, the foils, and the spoon. I used only a tiny portion of water it usually takes for cleaning. I ended by putting some water in the cup with a couple drops of bleach and rinsed everything. For a thorough washing I used just under a fourth cup of water, rinsing took almost 3/4 cup, disinfectant rinse took about 1/4 cup.

After great examination I concluded the water bottle to be completely intact so I filled it again to begin to boil for another meal. When it began to boil I poured some in a can/bowl and added oatmeal I use that takes 30 mins to fully cook, added a few raisins & dates, put a lid on it and set it on the edge of the burner. In another can/bowl I put quinoa & water, put a lid on it and stacked it on the oatmeal.

I filled the cup half full with hot water from the water bottle and placed a rectangle of aluminum foil over the top. Then I took two heaping tblsp. whole wheat flour, four tsps. instant milk, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, one tsp. olive oil, water to correct consistency, and made a biscuit. I made a concave cradle with the aluminum foil into the cup, staying above the steaming water, placed the bread dough in the 'cradle', punched a very few very small holes around the bread dough to allow the steam to pass over the dough, and waited. I saw this in a YouTube video but I hadn't yet tried it though I have been practicing almost daily at making bannock bread which has become tasty but is invariably a heavy product and an annoying thing because I have to wash the pan. The video I watched was a 'response' video about the OPs struggle with the messiness of bannock and how he's overcome the problem with the aluminum foil in the cup thing.

While I'm waiting to see if I'm going to have any luck with "my" bannock-in-a-cup I added tuna and olive oil to my quinoa and let it heat some more.

The bannock turned out beautifully!!! I had a perfect biscuit that I turned once and it cooked evenly all the way through. It was big and fluffy, and tasted really really good!

I took half the big biscuit, broke it up into small pieces, put them in the third can/bowl, filled the rest of the can/bowl with peaches, the 'syrup' in the can with the peaches, sprinkled it with cinnamon, and set it aside. I filled my cooking cup with hot water from the water bottle and made tea. While it was steeping I arranged my fully cook oats with raisins & dates and my quinoa with tuna, and the other half of the big biscuit I'd cooked, then sat down and ate. For dessert I had the faux peach cobbler that was waiting for me in the third can/bowl.

Now that I have my BO cookware bowls cup and have practiced in leisure so I know 'how' to use them I think I have added another FREE set of tools to my Poor Man's Prepping toolbox. I've been scouring YouTube and may be getting the hang of using low heat coals for the can/bowls with hotter parts for boiling water in the bottle and cooking in the cup.

I've added pictures of my new (had it all the time and I didn't know it) mess kit. I can't believe how small and light and fairly stackable it is, all three can/bowls fit inside the cup and if I attach a plastic bread tie to the neck of the spoon I easily slide the spoon handle through the cup handle in an upright position and secure it there.

If I have done some of these things poorly or even wrong, please, give me feedback.


First picture is the steel water bottle without the plastic cap, the three emptied tuna cans, the steel camping cup with it loooong handle, the two yams can 'lids', the larger rectangle of foil, the smaller piece of foil, and the spoon.


This picture is how it looks when the small foil is on the water bottle for cooking, two of the can/bowls stacked for keeping warm, and the cup is still being used for cooking.


How the cup looks when the foil is making a cradle at its top for cooking the bannock biscuit.


After clean-up, nested and ready to pack.


Kit now packed hobo-style in a bandana (at this time) and attached to the water bottle lid with carabiner. It is very light weight. The water bottle is in a home sewn carrier with handle for holding or attaching to belt or other.


Now if I can figure out how to make a 'simple' hobo stove and a 'simple rocket stove I would feel even better, but I swear I am just stumbling all over myself trying to get one made. I watch video after video. It's probably going to be like the bannock bread, I just have to keep trying. One day I'll snap and 'understand'.

Till then... The Poor Man's Prepping: See what you have just laying around to see if it can work as a mess kit.

[prepper7]

This post is about what I 'have' in the apartment to use as BO cookware. (at this time)<snip>

OMG, this was so much fun to read! Thank you for sharing your creative and very helpful experiments.

[KnightoftheRoc]

This post is about what I 'have' in the apartment to use as BO cookware. (at this time)<snip>

OMG, this was so much fun to read! Thank you for sharing your creative and very helpful experiments.

This is all stuff I've done myself, more out of financial necessity than a prepping exercise, but it's good to see someone actually DOING things instead of talking about it from that "armchair quarterback" posture that is so easy to slip into.

A couple thoughts I had while reading: 1- washing up seems (to me) to work best if you use the largest item you've cooked in as your "wash basin"- it's soaking while you wash everything else. It's also easiest, in my experience. 2- if you use the "mouse ears" can opener, and cut the SIDE of the lid lip, instead of the top of the lid, you can get a much safer edge on the can for use directly against the lips. Could be handy info. 3- some people will scream about how unsafe it is to cook "in the can"- they don't realize that the food was cooked in that same can when it was being processed and sealed. If it was unsafe, your food would already be poisoned, but since I'M not dead yet, I'm not losing any sleep over the possible chemicals my food had in it besides those listed on the label. 4- you kept mentioning "heavy steel" - I'm assuming you mean stainless. If you don't have any issues with using aluminum, shoot me a PM, I might be able to help you out on that score. Stainless runs about 1/3 heavier than regular steel, but aluminum is only 1/3 the weight of regular steel. If you're humping that stuff all day every day, lighter is definitely better. For bugging in, I use cast iron, but NONE of that is going into a backpack I'M carrying.

[zombiepreparation]

This post is about what I 'have' in the apartment to use as BO cookware. (at this time)<snip>

OMG, this was so much fun to read! Thank you for sharing your creative and very helpful experiments.

Oh! Thanks! I was hoping they could be useful and really appreciate the feedback.

[zombiepreparation]

A couple thoughts I had while reading: 1- washing up seems (to me) to work best if you use the largest item you've cooked in as your "wash basin"- it's soaking while you wash everything else. It's also easiest, in my experience.

What a good tip. Thx

2- if you use the "mouse ears" can opener, and cut the SIDE of the lid lip, instead of the top of the lid, you can get a much safer edge on the can for use directly against the lips. Could be handy info.

It is handy info. Thx.

3- some people will scream about how unsafe it is to cook "in the can"- they don't realize that the food was cooked in that same can when it was being processed and sealed.

True. I guess I was just going on all the many YouTube videos that actually show making billy cans for cooking out of cans. I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to research a bit for further info on this to see if there is a factual other side to the debate I may need to consider for longer use of each can. I agree that, at least for short term in a pinch crisis, the cans are probably reasonably safe. I'll check it out though. I learned today that canned goods, by everybody's account, even the manufacturers, have a much longer shelf life than the "use by" date. Eggs too, when there are no cracks and if kept refrigerated. There's a lot of info out there about that. I even learned today how to 'read' the markings on the cartons to actually know when they were packaged into the cartons. Pretty cool. I'll share if anyone is interested.

4- you kept mentioning "heavy steel" - I'm assuming you mean stainless. If you don't have any issues with using aluminum, shoot me a PM, I might be able to help you out on that score. Stainless runs about 1/3 heavier than regular steel, but aluminum is only 1/3 the weight of regular steel. If you're humping that stuff all day every day, lighter is definitely better. For bugging in, I use cast iron, but NONE of that is going into a backpack I'M carrying.

Both the water bottle and the camping cup are stainless steel. I guess the reason I wanted to emphasize 'heavy' is because I don't really know actual info on steel other than recognizing when it's stainless and when it's stainless coated over steel and/or aluminum. I guess that since "heavy steel" was emphasized in the info I saw I was being reassuring to anyone reading my post that I was using a heavy grade (or however it's gaged) steel for setting in/on direct heat.

As for the aluminum... well I use to like it. I have developed a mind set issue with it over the last many years. Not to say I'm hands off anything aluminum and for sure taking a heavy stainless mess kit on a forced relocation trek would cause me weight difficulties. I would 'like' to like aluminum again. If I had to I could relax into an aluminum mess kit, but currently I prefer to choose differently if I have the option. Bugger.

[prepper7]

<snip> I learned today that canned goods, by everybody's account, even the manufacturers, have a much longer shelf life than the "use by" date. Eggs too, when there are no cracks and if kept refrigerated. There's a lot of info out there about that. I even learned today how to 'read' the markings on the cartons to actually know when they were packaged into the cartons. Pretty cool. I'll share if anyone is interested.

I'm interested. And as you experiment with best/sell/use -by dates, pop in to the Near-death Experiments thead and let us know how you fare.

[zombiepreparation]

3- some people will scream about how unsafe it is to cook "in the can"- they don't realize that the food was cooked in that same can when it was being processed and sealed.

True. I guess I was just going on all the many YouTube videos that actually show making billy cans for cooking out of cans. I suppose it wouldn't hurt me to research a bit for further info on this to see if there is a factual other side to the debate I may need to consider for longer use of each can.

Okay, after doing a bit of checking on using my emptied cans from canned goods as my cooking/heating mess kit I guess I will be using them in a pinch and not long term unless I have nothing else. There are metals that can leach out of the steel cans and/or since 'that' was discovered to be happening some of the canners started coating the inside of the steel cans with another product that is now showing issues with it being there with the originally canned food, not even considering my using them long term for cooking with the heat breaking down the componants. At least for short term in a pinch crisis, I shall consider the cans reasonably safe.

And as for the aluminum... it still appears questionable enough to me, and like the steel info long term use for cooking is something I'm still going to avoid where possible. Of course, if I had to I could relax and use an aluminum mess kit, but I'm still not going to 'focus' in that direction while things are still running okay in my world.

What I do on a safe in-home daily basis at this time may/will look entirely different in a crisis, long term, bug out, or refugee situation. I certainly have no $$ to come up with a stainless steel mess kit but I'll keep gathering information, and keep my eye out for a substitution for my little (and now well liked) can mess kit at thrift stores and the occasional garage sale. "One never knows do one."

[bacpacjac]

Great thread!

For my cook kit, I use a SS water bottle, SS camp cup, a spoon or spork, and either an esbit or hobo stove. Hobo stoves are really easy to make, cheap, light and easy to fuel. (There are about a thousand videos on youtube that can show you how to make one.)



Check out second hand stores for your SS mess kit, and other supplies. Old pie tins work great and the old ones are pretty bomb-proof. They almost always have SS cutlery. (Of course, you could always canaballize cutlery from your kitchen.) You can also usually find SS cookware, sometimes even small enough to be packable in a bob or ghb.

[austinr09]

My plan is to be ready with as many guns and ammo as i can so that when it really comes down to it (which it will for all of us) i want to have the tools needed to go and TAKE food and water.

[KnightoftheRoc]

My plan is to be ready with as many guns and ammo as i can so that when it really comes down to it (which it will for all of us) i want to have the tools needed to go and TAKE food and water.

This is the attitude that ZS is exactly NOT about. Better go check the rules before posting.

Bullets have their place in prepping, but are not prepping all alone. Instead of TAKING what you need after the fact, why not learn how to set those things aside now, and learn how to provide them for yourself when times get tough? Saves on bullets. And Band-aids.

[Tribunal Power]

I have a BOB/Car Bag that I built entirely at Walmart for pretty cheap. The link is in my signature. It covers all the bases (some better than others) without costing half a grand.

I'm no authority in the survivalism world, so take it with a grain of salt, but the bag works for me and I built it to be cheap-but-effective, so I thought it would be worth mentioning here. Maybe it helps someone.

[Chantrea]

Austin, ZS is a little different from many communities that talk about the subjects we talk about.

I see that you are new here, and this is a huge community with lots of boards, so you may not have seen this; please take the time to familiarize yourself with the rules here. Here's a link to the basics:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=494

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

[zombiepreparation]

Well, I've just had my first 'run-thru' for my very first "Zombie" bug out. (Since discovering ZS last October) I can see I need a bit more organizing.

Big bag (already loaded with the 72+ hour food) and bag with 3 1/2 gallons water. Into the bathroom they go.
What's next? CLOTHES. The 72 hour clothes are sitting ready to load them in the bag. Load.
What's next? Ummmm... ummm... EDC bag... no, FLASHLIGHTS. Oh, cell phone. Cell phone and one flashlight attached to my person and the rest to the bathroom. Done.
Next? Ummmm... oh yeah, EDC bag. Check.
Next?

And for the next 40 minutes or so I stumbled and mumbled pulling my preps for a Poor Man's 72 hour bug out together. I actually 'had' them pretty much organized, they just weren't organized to go yet. Certainly not a SHTF get out now go go go readiness prepping. But as a run through I did manage to collect most of everything needed to survive for 72 hours on my own.

I can do better. But for me it was useful. Now that everything is past and done with for this storm I have time to reflect and see where I can (must) improve.

Maybe make a chart of steps? Like #1 do this. #2 do that. Etc. And practice going through all the steps so I'm not trying to organize on the fly?

Also GET THAT BAG PACKED ahead of time. !!! Not partially packed, PACKED.

Tips for The Poor Man's Prepping:
Actually practice bugging out to the front door a few times or more because thinking clearly may not be as readily available in the emergency.

Was it here? I'll go back and look, but someone earlier mentioned bug out Leisure Learning of these things because SHTF moments are too late. If "I" were in an emergency tonight, with seconds or minutes, I would have only gone with food, water, clothes, coat, & shoes. I didn't even remember my EDC and cell phone at first, and that EDC has my 'must haves' right after food & water. Ack! But, tonight was the first time I'd had a full 72 hours of food, water, & clothing I could run with in less than five minutes. So I'm improving.

[zombiepreparation]

I have a BOB/Car Bag that I built entirely at Walmart for pretty cheap. The link is in my signature. It covers all the bases (some better than others) without costing half a grand.

I'm no authority in the survivalism world, so take it with a grain of salt, but the bag works for me and I built it to be cheap-but-effective, so I thought it would be worth mentioning here. Maybe it helps someone.

I am sitting here laughing out loud! I just went to your signature site. Good stuff. And you are FUN-NY! Bug out face. I hadn't thought of that. I better get to working on mine.

Thanks for the post!

[Tribunal Power]

I have a BOB/Car Bag that I built entirely at Walmart for pretty cheap. The link is in my signature. It covers all the bases (some better than others) without costing half a grand.

I'm no authority in the survivalism world, so take it with a grain of salt, but the bag works for me and I built it to be cheap-but-effective, so I thought it would be worth mentioning here. Maybe it helps someone.

I am sitting here laughing out loud! I just went to your signature site. Good stuff. And you are FUN-NY! Bug out face. I hadn't thought of that. I better get to working on mine.

Thanks for the post!

Thanks. Putting together a BOB for under $200 seems like a task for this thread, and the bad jokes don't cost a dime (although some of the really bad ones might shave off years of your life).

[zombiepreparation]

Cool thread.

I look forward to the water entry - I have my (minimal!) water storage in 2L bottles that I got by asking on freecycle if anyone had them since we don't drink that much pop. If you've got extra water, you can probably trade some for food to folks like me![/quote]This was an idea that was occurring to me last night during the trial run!

[KnightoftheRoc]

Has anyone ever tried doing a Dollar Store BOB? We check out the one near the grocery store quite often, and I'm amazed at the amount of stuff they carry that I could see going into a BOB- not the highest quality, of course, but better than not having it at all.

I've been thinking about it, and when I have the money to spare, I'm going to try this out. One trip to the dollar store, with pics of what I got. We have several of them, so maybe a trip to each, but I think a basic kit for 72 hours could be put together in one day, for not a lot of money. It could be a Starter Kit, something that's there and ready to go, while putting together a better setup. When the better kit is ready, if it's not been used, it could be gifted to someone who is getting started.

[zombiepreparation]

You can also troll construction sites for the buckets AND lids- drywall guys toss them into the trash all the time. The compound washes out easily with some hot soapy water from both buckets and lids, and the dried-on parts will soften up fine with a night's soak in that same soapy water.

I thought it was you who gave the tip on construction site buckets! I went back and found your post.